


Gotta Go Fast

by Slave2MyFantasy



Category: Naruto
Genre: Angst, F/M, Fuck Canon I Do What I Want, Give Lee a girlfriend, Hyuuga Neji Lives, I have so many emotions, I wrote this in one sitting help me, POV Third Person Limited, Pining, So so much backstory, Teenage Hormones, oh my
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-23
Updated: 2021-01-23
Packaged: 2021-03-15 11:00:25
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 16,057
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28937403
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Slave2MyFantasy/pseuds/Slave2MyFantasy
Summary: Hikari Kumoka is lovesick over Rock Lee. That's it that's the story.Jokes aside; this is the story of Hikari and Lee's relationship and romance, told from Hikari's side, starting way back in the academy. Still no first person because I'm not a monster. Get ready for pining and so, so much crying.
Relationships: Rock Lee & Original Female Character(s)
Comments: 4
Kudos: 8





	Gotta Go Fast

**Author's Note:**

> Why do I name my serious angsty lovesick drama romances after memes? 
> 
> You should know the drill by now, but if you're new: Welcome. I'm Haven, I do self-inserts. You should probably go and read Rock My Body and Thanks For The.. before you read this or you're gonna be LOST. Seriously, there are giant gaps in here that will only be filled by the previous two stories. 
> 
> How many times can I say the word "tears" before it becomes a non-word? Let's find out.

There he was again. Still hitting that stump, still doing squats and still doing jump rope. The handles of that rope were tarnished, smudged with sweat mixed with raw plastic and blood. She'd seen blisters break open over and over on those handles, watched the blood run down his palms as he kept going.

That man was there again too, hiding in the treeline, another voyeur to the boy's struggle. She was sure he'd noticed her peeking as well, but the two had a sort of unspoken agreement.  _ I won't tell if you won't. _ He intimidated her— his bowl cut, the green spandex, the wide nose and intense cheekbones. But he, just like her, watched the boy with the braid nearly every day.

It was a miracle the boy hadn't noticed the two of them. He was much too focused on his training.

It was only after graduation that she learned his name. The other kids— the other bullies in the class just called him the hot blooded loser. Her name was much, much shorter. Just Fatty. Sometimes fatass. Pig, Lardo, Debu-chan, anything else they could think of, but Fatty was the most common. Honestly, Hot Blooded Loser was the coolest nickname she'd ever heard. But his real name was much, much cooler.

Rock Lee.

\--

It was only a month after she'd been put into this new team that she knew. Yoritoki and Kande, her teammates, were better than her... almost by leagues. She knew they set the teams up with one person from the top of the class, one from the middle, and one from the bottom, but being the one from the bottom was fucking humiliating. She wondered if anyone knew how much it sucked to be  _ that one _ , the one holding the team back, the one who needed extra attention and extra protection.

She wondered if Rock Lee knew.

Fat and slow. Everyone made sure she knew it, even if they weren't overtly trying. Ichida-sensei stayed back with her while Toki sprinted ahead. Kande made sure to keep watching over his shoulder during missions in case he needed to come to her aid. Her parents wouldn't talk to her about training. They didn't want to know the baby they'd brought into their house, their only hope at continuing the family tradition, was failing. Especially from her. They'd sneer silently as she ate. The clothes they bought her were a little too tight. They wouldn't leave her lunch, and if she came home too late from missions, they wouldn't leave her dinner.

Cooking became a way to survive, to get the energy to go out and fail.

At least the food didn't openly fucking mock her as it went into her mouth. At least the food brought her a little joy.

A month had gone by, and she was goddamn fed up. She was tired of crying, alone in the kitchen, into her rice. She had two options: feel this way for the rest of her life, or do something about it.

She was only twelve. She had a long, long life ahead of her to feel like shit the whole fucking time. Too long.

The only option was: do something about it.

\--

"Ichida-sensei?"

The sun was just going down, and Toki and Kande were leaving training, no worse for wear. Hikari was covered in bruises, scrapes, and scratches, and sulked her way up to her sensei. Sayoko could see her back teeth grinding, and her brows knit low on her face, and prepared herself for the talk. She knew it was coming, and that she'd have to give the young kunoichi the talk at some point. The 'it's alright,' talk. The 'it's fine to be a slow bloomer' talk. The 'we'll take care of you' talk.

That was not the talk they had that evening.

"I want extra taijutsu training." Hikari's eyes were startling. Damn near flaming in the spring sunset. The gold in them had never been brighter, never been more molten than that moment. Alight with an inner fire Sayoko hadn't expected. The sudden heat brought a smile to her face.

"... It won't be easy."

"I don't want it to be."

"I don't have the time to do it myself."

"I can do it on my own." Another surprising answer. She'd expected the girl to be crestfallen.

"... I do have someone in mind who might be able to help you."

"Anyone," Hikari insisted.

"I'm... warning you again. He's not... delicate."

"I'm tired of being delicate."

Sayoko can't help but laugh aloud, and Hikari's face flushes deeply. "I'm serious!" she yelps, lip drawing up in indignation.

"I can tell," Sayoko kneels down to look Hikari in the face. The grit in her jaw was no longer bitter. It was resolute. "Stay tomorrow after training, and I'll bring him to meet you, alright?"

"Yes ma'am. Thank you ma'am." Hikari swallows heavily, and Sayoko giggles a little. Time to contact Guy.

\--

Hikari couldn't believe her eyes. Her stomach dropped all the way to the ground as the man with the bowl cut and green suit came swaggering up that afternoon.  _ The _ man. Their eyes met with a moment of recognition that Ichida-sensei didn't quite catch.

"Guy," she opens her arms for a hug, and Guy reciprocates with a loud, hearty thump on the back.

"Sayoko! You wanted to see me?" His voice is deeper than Hikari expected— though, she wasn't quite sure why she expected otherwise. It almost hurt her chest from the way it reverberated. He was intense, just from one sentence.

"I did. This," Ichida-sensei pushes Hikari forward with a hand in the middle of her back, "is Hikari. She's having some trouble with taijutsu, and there's no one I'd rather turn to for help."

Guy's eyes were deeper up close. Dark, scathing dots in the middle of bright, bright sclera. She'd never really noticed before— they were always turned on Lee, when they crossed paths.

"You're looking to improve, are you, Hikari-chan?" he asks. His voice vibrated even deeper in her chest now, but not just because of the proximity. It was a question that held more questions. Not a question, but a judgement. Hikari had to find the voice shaken out of her lungs.

"Y... yes. Yes, I am, sir."

She couldn't look away even if she wanted to. He was searching her soul, and she wanted him to look. She needed him to see.

And he did. He saw the same smoldering frustration that he saw in his dearest pupil. The same rawness of repeated failure. The same spark of resolution to anguish for the sake of growth. Of victory.

"We start at 5:30am, sharp," he states, and the girl only gives a nod in return. Ichida can't help but well with pride.

"You'll be expected to train with us in the afternoon too, Hikari," she reminds her, and she nods again.

"I'm ready."

\--

She wasn't ready. She couldn't have been ready for this.

Dawn was just breaking over the treetops as she hurried into the training ground and came face to face with those eyebrows. She'd noticed he'd cut his braid. It was shaggy now, and his clothes were different. But she'd know those eyebrows anywhere.

It was Lee's first time seeing her, though, and the sudden appearance of another person at their training surprised him. Tenten and Neji were equally startled. There was a long pause as the group evaluated their guest. It was unlikely she was here by accident— at their training ground at 5am? Highly unlikely.

"... Uhm," she finally offers. "This is... Guy-sensei's training, right?"

"Yes it is!" Guy's boom broke the silence of the early morning air, and sent nearby birds from their trees. The group turned towards him as he strode in, his hands on his hips. "Team, we have a new friend joining us."

Lee's heavy eyebrows crept up underneath his headband. This was highly, highly unusual, even for his sensei.

"This is Hikari. She's joining us for training for the next little while, at the request of her sensei." Guy clarifies, patting her back and sending her stumbling forward a bit. "Introduce yourselves."

Hikari and Lee both speak at the same time, and Hikari's face turns deep, dark red. Tenten snickers a little as Lee pauses, then starts again.

"My name is Rock Lee," he gives a little bow, and Hikari returns it.

"I'm Tenten," she offers a smile, and Hikari returns it as well, but hesitantly and awkwardly.

"Neji," is all Neji offers.

"Uh, I'm Hikari." Her voice is small and timid, and her eyes are downcast. "Thank you for having me. I'll work hard."

Tenten can't help but wonder how long she'll last.

\--

The first week is hard, for everyone involved. A team clicking wasn't something that happened easily or naturally, and Hikari wasn't even part of the team. The first day, the first training, is the first time she had to stop to puke, and it certainly wasn't the last. She averaged about three or four times a day, and at first, it grossed Tenten out to the point that she wouldn't even stand beside Hikari during drills. Lee ended up with that pleasure.

Hikari never stopped, though. The first time the group had to take a break for her to be done, but she'd finished, swished her mouth out, and returned; face bright red, but none worse for wear.

By the end of the second week, it was routine. She'd suddenly dart towards the bushes, heave a few times, spit, and then dart back to continue.

Her clothes were always soaked by the time she hobbled out of the training ground, and she never really stopped to talk to anyone afterwards. Not that Neji or Tenten really minded, but Lee had become more and more curious about her as the days progressed. The one time he tried to approach her, however, she completely ignored him, and hurried away even faster than before. He reasoned she must be embarrassed about her performance.

He had no clue.

At the beginning of the third week, Guy regards them all after a few rounds of drills.

"Lee, you'll be sparring with Hikari."

The six words sent her reeling in more ways than one. She wasn't good at sparring... and she definitely wasn't good at Lee. Lee was excited, though; this would be the first time the new girl would be sparring with them. He wasn't particularly good at one on one combat yet— Tenten could easily best him, and that wasn't even touching his relationship with Neji— and the chance to fight with someone new was novel.

Hikari stood across from him as Tenten and Neji started their own sparring. Lee gives a short starting bow, which she returns, before they assume their stances.

The spar is embarrassingly short, and ends with Hikari heaving in the bushes after a particularly brutal kick to the stomach. Lee almost feels guilty— he had no idea she was so slow. The two punches and kick she'd offered him whiffed by, and she didn't have any time to react before he'd nailed her. It would have been a little vindicating if he didn't feel so bad about it.

He was impressed when she waddled back over, though, and resumed her stance. Tenten and Neji watch during their breaks; it was almost too painful to, but they did. Lee beat her black and blue, and she could barely keep up. Not a single hit from her side connected. They wondered how she passed the graduation tests in the first place; but deep inside, Lee knew how. He knew exactly how.

Every time, she got up. Without fail, even bleeding, swollen, bruised, and tears running openly down her face, she got up. Tenten couldn't even chastise her. It would've felt wrong to.

\--

_ CRACK _ .

Hikari hits the floor with a heavy thud, and blood spatters dramatically. Lee freezes in horror, and Tenten gasps as she jumps to her feet. That sounded like it  _ HURT _ . That sounded like it could have honestly killed her.

Hikari groans loudly, writhing in the grass, clutching her mouth as blood streamed between her fingers. That wild heel kick caught her jaw in JUST the right place, and her lip was damn near busted completely open.

"FUCK, SHIT, FUCKING SHIT, GOD FUCKING DAMMIT," she spits, and it catches the group— and Guy— off guard. She was usually pretty quiet, and hearing this stream of obscenities was almost out of character.

"A-are you alright, Hikari-san?!" Lee hurries towards her, hand outstretched, but is met with a palm held sharply in his direction. The blood and saliva oozed down it, almost obscenely gory for a training session.

"DON'T," she snaps. There's another strained pause as Hikari spits and sputters for a moment, and then her eyes open, connecting with Lee's. There's a split moment of recognition between the two. He knew that frustrated fire glittering deep in her golden irises.

"Don't apologize yet." She forces herself up onto her feet.

"Hikari, we should get you some—" Tenten starts, but the concern grinds to a halt as Lee suddenly resumes the spar. "LEE!"

Neji watches with an aloof disdain. Two failures beating each other to death wasn't something he wanted to witness, but for some reason he couldn't take his eyes away.

Blows are traded, and Tenten sputters angrily. "You guys! Hikari needs medical attention! Stop, stop already! You're gonna—"

As Lee's foot comes around again, heading directly for her lip with pinpoint accuracy, Tenten's eyes widen. She couldn't believe it; he was going to get her again, in the same damn place. This was too brutal to watch, and she couldn't believe he would do something like this.

But Lee knew exactly what she wanted. There was a kinship, a soft recognition of that fire. 'Again,' it said. 'Do it again, exactly that same way.'

Hikari's hand rockets up, her thumb wrapping around Lee's ankle as it came a hair's breadth from her streaming lip. It almost happens too quick to catch. An elbow, a pivot, the sound of scraping gravel, and all of a sudden, Hikari's heel connects to Lee's jaw, in a mirror of the move that sent her to the ground moments before.

There was a difference, though, and one none of the children had seen coming.

Since she'd joined them, Hikari hadn't gotten one solid hit on any of them. Whiffs, near grazes, and wild haymakers that only connected with air. But this heel was different. The ensuing crack was even louder, and hurt more, than its predecessor.

Lee's body ragdolls ten feet backwards, slamming roughly into a tree in his path, and he slumps to the ground, the wind knocked out of his chest. Blood streamed down his own chin, bloodying his shirt and pooling on the grass beneath him.

The only sound was the cicadas, screaming Hikari's praise.

She rights herself, cracks her neck, and spits the remaining blood that had swelled on her tongue. Victory smelled like dirt and iron, and the huge, cheeky smirk only split her lip even more, depositing more scarlet onto her shirt.

"NOW you can apologize."

\--

The medic-nin that showed up to give them stitches chastised Guy for letting them get that far, but Hikari could barely hear it over her own self satisfied grin. The medic had to stitch around it; it hadn't left her face for one second since that kick. Her adrenaline was pounding in her ears, and she could barely hold back laughter of sheer joy. This was her first taste of victory, and it was damn intoxicating. It damn near made her dizzy.

She didn't even care that she'd kicked the shit out of her crush's lip, she was riding too high to consider the consequences.

Lee, however, was almost numb from the experience. Numb in too many different ways for him to process until the end of training that day. As Neji and Tenten started to head off, he finally put his finger on what he was feeling, and stood up suddenly. The blood loss made him woozy for a moment, but he stumbled over his determination towards her.

"Hikari-san!" Her name was loud and sharp, and it shook Hikari from her post-fight bliss. Reality suddenly came crashing back down around her; and a slow-motion replay of the kick flashes through her mind as she turns to face him.

"Y-Yes, Lee-san?" she manages, feeling her lip throb as his name passed through them. There was guilt in her eyes, but she was shocked to find a very familiar fire in his.

"Will you please train with me this evening?!" he damn near demands. Tenten pauses near the trees in shock, turning to look over her shoulder at the two. That couldn't  _ possibly _ be good.

"With—?" Hikari sputters a bit. "With me? But... I just..."

The eye contact was even more intense than Guy's. Deep, onyx black pools of determination. They glittered with admiration, and refused to let go of her soul. There wasn't a question of if, it was a question of when and where.

"Uh, oh. Uhm." Hikari's face flushes darker and darker as he looks at her, and only manages to tear away when she gives him what he wants. "Sure, I... yeah, I have time. When do you—?"

"Meet me in the forest by the academy at sunset! There is a stump there, we can practice together!" He practically glimmers with glee, his smile shining like the sun. How did he get his teeth so white? Hikari nearly has to shield her eyes.

"Alright," she gives a shy little giggle. There was no way she was going to admit she knew exactly where he meant. "I could probably find that."

Tenten resolves to make sure they didn't kill themselves that night.

\--

Tenten was surprised to find she wasn't the only peeper. She was surprised to find Guy there as well, across from her— and two new faces she'd never seen before. Two boys her age, one taller than the other by a fair bit. The shorter one had stiff, dusty blonde hair pulled into a tufted low ponytail, and the taller one had muted teal waves that fell around his face delicately.

Hikari nor Lee noticed they had so many watchers. Hikari was far too focused on Lee for that, and Lee was far too focused on training.

Toki knew the second he saw how Hikari had been acting at the end of their training that something was going on, and dragged Kande to spy on her. Hikari was never, ever that happy at sunset. Pink cheeks, preening her clothes, tying her bushy hair up tightly, making sure she was ready... but ready for what?

When he set eyes on the boy she was with, though, he knew immediately. He definitely wasn't his type. He was honestly surprised he was anyone's type, the way he looked. Shaggy, shiny black hair, big, bug eyes. Those eyelashes. Those  _ eyebrows _ .

But Hikari was  _ clearly _ smitten, and it was actually kinda cute. He looks up at Kande, who only gives a little smirk in return. Glad to know they were on the same page, they settled down to peep on the couple. It became clear after a while, though, that the guy was so oblivious he wouldn't notice a truck barreling at him. God, Toki could nearly see the hearts floating off his teammate, this was too much.

Tenten was catching on as well, and wondered if Guy-sensei did, too. She could see he had tears in his eyes again, and a look on his face that screamed " _ I'M SO PROUD OF THEM _ ," but she couldn't tell what he was proud about. The training? The midnight rendezvous?

The training went well into the night. The conversation, though, didn't really pick up until the stars started to come out. By then, Guy had left, but Tenten and the boys stayed— purely out of curiosity by now.

"Hikari-san," Lee said as they paused for some water. "I do not think I have ever seen your team."

"Oh, uh, no. You probably wouldn't have, they don't know I'm training with you."

Tenten saw the two boys give each other little smirks— so they were her teammates. She figured, but that was confirmation.

"Why did you come train with us?" Lee asks, and Hikari's face flushes.

"Come on," she frowns, gesturing to all of herself.

"... That is fair," Lee swallows back embarrassment at his obvious question.

"I'm just... fucking terrible at taijutsu," she mumbles, and Tenten blinks. She'd sworn again.

"I suppose that is something we both can work on," Lee offers. The unspoken "together" hangs in the air, and they can all see Hikari's chest catch on her breath.

"... Mm," she finally grunts, face pink. "I guess it is."

\--

After that day, Guy starts pairing Hikari more and more with Tenten, and Hikari surprises her by revealing her projectile of choice was  _ needles _ . It made for interesting long distance practice, to be sure.

It was even more surprising that Hikari's accuracy was actually pretty good. She was improving during training, as well. By early june, she'd stopped puking during practice, and she was starting to keep up more and more with Lee, and then with Tenten.

Guy can't help but feel himself swell with pride watching her, and so he watches her more, and more. And over the days, he starts to notice something intriguing.

Hikari liked watching.

He'd known this since catching her spying on Lee for the first time, back in the academy. But this was different. When she was taking a break, she was watching. When she was doing drills, she was watching. When she was sparring, she was watching. Those big, golden eyes never left the sights around her, drinking in everything.

And an idea starts to percolate in his head.

Tenten approaches Hikari and Lee after training one hot summer day.

"Hey, Hikari-san." Hikari looks up from her water bottle in surprise. Tenten never really talked to her before.

"Uh, yes? Can I— I mean, yeah?" She cringes at her own awkwardness.

"I uh, I know you guys train in the evenings," Tenten admits, gesturing at Lee. "Could I stop by next time? I'd like more practice with your needles."

Hikari can't help but grin, the smile stretching at the scar on her lip.

"Uh, is that alright with you, Lee-kun?"

Tenten's eyebrows raise at the affectionate honorific. How close were they?

"Of course! I would be overjoyed for you to join us, Tenten-chan!" Lee flashes his own sparkling grin and gives an energetic thumbs up.

"I could bring some training snacks too," Hikari offers, and the two look at her in surprise. She feels a jolt of embarrassment and clears her throat. "I, I mean, you gotta keep your energy up, ya know? I've been meaning to offer you some, Lee-kun, but I, uhm, I wasn't sure you'd want any from... you know, from me. Who would want my snacks? Haha, all I ever do is puke up my food, I— I mean, and I wasn't sure it was appropriate. Maybe it is? I gotta thank you at some point for letting me train with you, and—"

Hikari's hands gesticulate wildly as she word-vomits, and Tenten mercifully holds up her own to let her stop.

"Snacks sound good! Right, Lee?" Tenten looks to the green boy for confirmation, and he smiles widely.

"I am excited to see what you can do, Hikari-chan!" He chirrups, and Tenten makes a mental note of that '-chan'. They were much closer than she'd originally thought.

Hikari beams herself. "I'll do my best!"

\--

"This was... way too much. Why am I so fucking extra? Why did I make so much? Why am I like this?!" Hikari mutters to herself, staring down at the multi-layered bento stack in front of her. This was so fucking embarrassing. She might as well scream "I'm in love with you" to his face. Might as well have made the onigiri into hearts.

"I'm such a stupid bitch. Maybe I should say I forgot." She ties the box up with a large handkerchief, hefting it. God, it was heavy. Why did she make so much? It was just her and Tenten and Lee. This would feed her team for a full day. And Toki ate a fuck-ton.

She continues to beat herself up as she approaches the training ground, and her face burns as she sees Lee. This was humiliating.

"Hi! I'm here," she calls, and Tenten turns, before clapping a hand over her mouth at seeing the giant bento she was lugging with her. It was so, so hard not to laugh. Hikari begs Tenten with her eyes to not say anything.

"Hikari-chan! You brought snacks!" Lee jumps up, trotting over. "I am starving!"

"He didn't eat for the rest of the day," Tenten clarifies, "'cuz he wanted to be hungry for the food."

"You didn't have to do that." Hikari blushes, holding it out for him. "But, uh, we could eat first, if you wanted."

"You're not gonna puke it all up again, are you?" Tenten teases, and Hikari sticks her tongue out at her.

"Hey, I'm better about that now!" She scolds playfully, giggling.

"Yes, Hikari-chan is improving rapidly!" Lee turns on Tenten, equally as playful. "Keeping down food should be child's play!"

"HEY, rude!" Hikari snaps, laughing. Tenten can't help but giggle as the group settles down to eat. The nerves return as Hikari unties the wrap and opens up the bento— three layers of incredible looking food. It shimmers in the late evening light, and smells absolutely amazing. Onigiri, meat skewers, eggs, plenty of vegetables and fruit, all cut and cooked to perfection. Tenten and Lee's mouths water, and both look up in surprise at the bashful Hikari.

"Oh my GOD," Tenten scoffs in disbelief. "You made this?! It looks awesome!"

"This is incredible, Hikari-chan!" Lee damn near shouts. "I never knew you had such a gift!"

Hikari's cheeks couldn't contain more blood if they tried. She scratches bashfully at her arm, giggling.

"Thanks. I'm glad, I thought I made too much..." She mumbles as Tenten and Lee both pick up rice balls.

The first bite is magical. Tenten can't believe her mouth, and her eyes shine. Lee's fill with happy tears.

"Wh-what?!" Hikari fidgets at the sudden silence. "Oh no, is it—"

"Oh, shut up!" Tenten stuffs the rest of the rice into her mouth, Lee following suit and picking up another. " _ Is it bad, _ I can't believe you."

Tenten can only manage to playfully mock Hikari through the food in her mouth, and it comes out garbled. Hikari bursts out laughing, relief rolling off her shoulders as her training partners— no, as her friends ate.

\--

"Hikari, you'll spar with Neji."

She hadn't been sent reeling like this since that first spar with Lee back in spring— with Neji? She might as well be fighting God. She can't help but feel herself start to sweat as Neji comes over to her, an even look on his face.

Neji isn't worried at all. Why should he be? Hikari could barely keep up with Tenten, and he'd been sparring with her— and winning— for months now. The fat girl in front of him was shaking in her boots for a reason.

Neji wasn't the type to hold back just because his opponent was weaker than him, either. The fight is brutal, and short, and ends with Hikari on the grass, like she normally was. She pants and sputters quietly, before climbing back to her feet.

"One more time," she grunts. That wasn't surprising either; he'd noticed her resilience.

What was surprising, however, comes a few rounds later— and it comes quicker than it came the first time it'd happened, much to Guy's glee. Where it had taken Hikari a couple weeks of sparring with Lee, it took just a few rounds with Neji.

A combo Neji had already used to put her on the ground comes around a second time, just like the first time. And just like the first time, it happens almost too quick to catch. A click, a block, a rotation, the sound of grass tearing and gravel scraping, and a loud, painful crack to the jaw.

Neji only stumbles backwards a bit in shock, a bruise already forming on his chin, but the action is enough to silence the group again. The cicadas cheer in the hot July air. Hikari's grin strains the scar on her lip, and she licks the sweat off it.

"One more time?"

Neji didn't let her get the better of him again for the rest of the day— his pride was much too bruised for that. He'd underestimated his opponent and gotten kicked in the face, and that was unacceptable. But it was the first time Neji recognized Hikari. An opponent. A shinobi.

A rival.

\--

The weeks revealed Hikari's strengths— her literal strengths. She was slow, and struggled to keep up sometimes. But her body was deceptive; it hid cords of muscle underneath pads of fat, and didn't show the sheer strength she was capable of. More than once, she put dents into trees with her fists, and having a punch or kick connect was a surefire way to get a nasty bruise.

It drove Team Guy to try and avoid getting hit.

And their avoidance drove her to be faster, to be more accurate. Feeling her foot connect with something solidly was a feeling better than what she thought drugs would feel like. She could get addicted to the feeling.

The summer came and went, and Hikari felt herself becoming more like Team Guy. She was a part of them now. Neji sometimes even graced them with his presence at their evening training sessions.

But it was another presence that startled them one late summer evening.

"Hey, Hikari-chan!"

The four young ninja turn at the sound of two pairs of feet coming through the brush, and Hikari gasps.

"Toki-kun! Kande-kun?! What are you doing here?" She asks, getting to her feet and wiping her hands on her pants.

"We got tired of you not inviting us on your little dates, so we've decided to come crash your party," Toki laughs as Hikari comes up and gives him a high five and chest hug.

"You knew?" she laughs, giving one to Kande as well, and he snorts.

"You're as subtle as a brick," he teases, giving her stomach a little poke. "Always giggly after practice, skipping off to go get ready to see your boyfriend."

Hikari's face goes dark red, and Kande very barely escapes a fist to the side.

"HE IS NOT—"

Toki skirts up to Team Guy, giving a friendly wave.

"Hey! I'm Yoritoki, call me Toki. That's Kande-chan, we're Hikari's teammates." He introduces.

"I'm Tenten," She gets up to come over and give his hand a shake. "That's Neji and Lee. We're on Team Guy."

Lee gives a thumbs up, and Neji scoffs, just a little. He'd toned down over the summer, but Hikari knew what he could be like.

"Nice to meet you! It's taken long enough for us to meet," Toki laughs. "Like, damn Hikari-chan, haven't you been at this since like, May?"

"You knew?" Hikari gives a sheepish grin.

"Subtle as a brick," Kande pokes her side again.

"Shut up," She slaps at his hand, cheeks pink.

"Mind if we crash? We're going to anyway, but, ya know, might as well ask." Toki gives a cheesy grin, and Tenten snorts.

"Not at all," she waves them over, a big smile on her face.

There's more chatting than training that night, to Lee's slight dismay. Toki talks fast, and never seems to know when to stop, to  _ Hikari's _ dismay. More comes out about her that night than she really wanted them to know.

"Snoring, huh?" Tenten laughs, and Hikari holds a kunai towards Toki threateningly.

"Yup, snores. Snores so loud she wakes the damn devil." A kunai dodged. "It's like a lawnmower." Another kunai. "And she sleeps like the dead." Shuriken this time. "Overnight missions are the worst."

"I'm gonna fucking kill you, Toki-kun," Hikari hisses, and Toki smirks.

"Catch me first, fatass~" he croons, and Hikari shrieks and starts after him.

"It's not that bad," Kande reassures as the two dart around the training ground. "He's exaggerating."

"Lee sleepwalks sometimes," Tenten says, and Lee's cheeks go pink.

"Tenten-chan, I do not think they need to know that," he insists, and Tenten grins at him.

"Fair's fair," she chuffs. "We know about Hikari-chan's snoring, they know about your sleepwalking."

Hikari tackles Toki in the middle of the training ground, wrestling him down and sitting on him. The short blonde had no chance.

"Get your FAT ASS OFF ME!" He yelps. "I CAN'T FUCKING BREATHE."

"This is your hubris," Hikari cackles, a smug look on her face.

"IF YOU DUN' GET OFF I'M GONNA TELL 'EM YOUR CUP SIZE," Toki wheezes.

"You really want to fuckin' die today, Toki-kun?" Hikari leans back even harder, eyes suddenly deadly cold. Toki only manages a soft squeak in return.

Lee blushes a bit and decides to change the subject.

"Hikari-chan, you are always training with us. When do you train with your team?" He asks.

"Uh? Oh." Hikari releases Toki, who coughs and sputters, sucking in sweet, sweet air. "I train with them every day."

"... When?" Tenten raises an eyebrow.

"Well, I have training with you guys in the morning, right?" Hikari gestures to Lee. "Then I have training during the day with them till the afternoon... and then I make dinner and bring it here for training."

Everyone pauses, and Toki laughs after catching his breath.

"Yeah, her schedule's wild. Our missions are her day OFF." He sits up, readjusting his ponytail.

"Damn," Tenten blinks. "You gotta train as much as Lee does, then."

Hikari nods bashfully. "I mean, I try."

"Why do you try so hard?"

Neji's question makes the air go cold. Toki turns his eyes on the aloof brunette.

"I'm sorry, what did you just say?" He asks, his voice even.

"Why do you try so hard?" Neji crosses his arms, not bothering to ask anything further. Toki gets to his feet, and Kande starts towards his teammate.

"Toki, don't—" He starts.

"What's so bad about trying, huh?" Toki asks, getting in Neji's face. Neji doesn't back down, his eyes flat and cold.

"Toki."

He turns at the sound of Hikari's voice, seeing her shaking her head.

"Toki, it's not worth it." She gives a little half smile, a dimple scrunching on one cheek. "I mean, he's kinda right to ask."

Lee riles a little at this, shoulders tightening.

"No he's not! It's—" Toki starts.

"Come on, look at me," Hikari laughs, and she sounds just a little hollow. The silence is uncomfortable before she continues.

"Neji-san, to answer your question," Hikari sits back on a nearby log, looking up at the sky. She couldn't bring herself to meet any of their gazes. The stars reflect in the gold and tears in her eyes."I try because trying feels better than feeling like shit."

\--

The first group practice was the first time Team Guy saw Hikari's jutsu. By time fall came around, they were all curious, but no one had gone out of their way to ask yet. When Hikari trained with them, even when Toki and Kande came by, she only ever trained taijutsu.

Guy noticed the group was hanging out more and more— Toki and Kande coming to get Hikari at the end of morning training, and all of the young shinobi chatting and laughing together— and made the executive decision on his own.

"Sayoko!"

Ichida-sensei was surprised to see Guy heading towards her with her students in tow, all chatting and giggling as they talked.

"Oh, Guy. What's up? Why...?"

"I've decided we should take a group mission, you and I!" Guy proclaims, flashing a thumbs up and a smile.

"Uh...? Isn't that a little...?" Ichida raises an eyebrow, looking at the kids for confirmation.

"Can we?!" Hikari's eyes sparkle at the idea, and Toki elbows her.

"Hikari-chan wants to spend time with her boyyyyfriiiieend~" He teases, sending Hikari into another jabbing rage.

"HE'S NOT MY BOYFRIEND!"

"Oh, oh-ho?" Ichida smirks and gives a little laugh. "Something's been going on behind my back, hasn't there?"

"Hikari has a boyfriend," Kande says, and Hikari lashes out at him as well. The three start chasing each other around, leaving Sayoko and Guy to talk.

"Youth, amirite?" Sayoko grins at Guy cheekily, who gives a bellowing laugh.

"Right you are, Sayoko," he guffaws, slapping her back.

"A group mission? You think they're ready for something like that?" She asks, crossing her arms.

"My students are, and I'd go as far to say yours are as well," Guy says. "But you don't need to take my word for it. Let's have a practice training together— you'll see. They work together like a well-oiled machine."

Sayoko chews her bottom lip, intrigued.

"Alright, I'll bite." She agrees. "What are we thinking? Keepaway, Kakashi-style?"

"With two of us? No, that won't work." Guy strokes his chin.

"... I think I know a way it can." A naughty smile spreads across Sayoko's face.

\--

"Keepaway?" Hikari asks the two senseis before them.

"Yes, but it's a little different," Ichida-sensei clarifies.

"Instead of us keeping away, you'll be keeping this—" Guy holds up a scroll, tied with a gold ribbon. "Away from us."

Ichida-sensei jerks a thumb towards her chest. "And don't think we'll go easy."

"It'll be YOUR job, as a team, to keep the scroll away as long as possible." Guy tosses the scroll to Tenten, who looks down at it in surprise. "Doesn't matter how."

"As long as it stays out of either of our hands, the game's still in play. But the second Guy or I touch it, game over." Ichida-sensei cracks her knuckles, a wide smirk on her face. Hikari, Toki, and Kande all swallow audibly, and Tenten looks over at them with wide eyes and dark circles. She didn't want to know what that meant.

"You get an hour head start," Guy says. "We stay right here for that whole time. When the hour's up, we'll come for the scroll. Understand?"

The group nods, anxiety palpable in the air.

"One hour starts... now."

\--

The kids reconvene a good distance away from their senseis— well out of sight and earshot— to discuss the best way to keep the scroll safe.

"We should hide it somewhere," Toki offers. "And then keep them busy as long as possible."

"Absolutely not," Kande scoffs. "We don't have the stamina or skills to keep them for long. We'd lose in minutes."

"And Ichida-sensei's... too good a tracker to just bury and leave it." Hikari mumbles. All three shudder a bit.

"A tracker?" Tenten asks.

"It might be best if we discuss the skills of our senseis," Lee supplies.

"Good point," Kande nods.

"Ichida-sensei is a tracker— the Ichida clan specializes in finding people who want to be lost." Hikari says, sitting back on the grass. "All her jutsu revolve around that."

"And they're all earth based." Toki points out. "Burying it won't work."

"What about Guy-sensei?" Kande asks.

"Guy-sensei's a taijutsu user, for the most part," Tenten says. "I know he can summon turtles, but I've never really seen him use other ninjutsu."

"Nothing else?" Toki's eyebrows raise.

"He does not NEED anything else!" Lee shouts, clenching his fists.

"I didn't mean it like that," Toki holds his hands up defensively.

"If Guy-sensei is mostly a taijutsu user, then he'll most likely be the brute force we need to stop, and Ichida-sensei is the brains we need to work around." Hikari says.

"She'll lead him here, and he'll plow through us to get the scroll," Tenten nods.

"The most important parts of the plan will be misdirection and evasion," Kande says.

"Neji-san, you can keep an eye on them, right?" Hikari asks.

"Of course I can," he says.

"Neji'll probably be our best bet against Guy-sensei, too," Kande adds.

"No, I think we should use his chakra-blocking technique on Ichida-sensei." Tenten says. "The more we can disable her, the better."

"Start at the source," Hikari agrees. "The longer we can keep Ichida-sensei at bay, the better."

"I guess we'll be Neji-chan's bodyguards, then?" Toki gives him a cheesy grin, to which Neji scoffs.

"I'd be better off on my own," Neji spits.

"No, this'll work better as a team," Hikari shakes her head, and everyone looks at her. "Neji-san's good, but he's not good enough to stand up to Ichida-sensei on his own, especially since Guy-sensei will probably be expecting that. Both at once? No chance."

Neji stays quiet— she was right, and he knew that.

"Someone needs to guard the scroll itself," Kande says.

"I'll do that," Tenten nods. "No one knows scrolls or traps better than I do."

"And someone should stay with Tenten-kun as backup." Toki says.

"Someone who can cover close combat," Lee supplies. "Should that be me?"

"No, we need you against Guy-sensei," Tenten shakes her head. "You know his fighting style best."

"I can stay with Tenten," Kande says. "I do close combat pretty well."

"... I should do it," Hikari says, and everyone's eyes return to her again. Her cheeks go pink. "I mean, Tenten-chan and I practice together a lot, and I'm... not TERRIBLE at taijutsu anymore. I know her style, I can cover her weak spots. N-No offense."

"None taken. I could probably cover yours, too." Tenten nods.

"Then the guys will confront the senseis, and the girls will cover the scroll." Toki states, and the group nods in agreement. As the boys break off to discuss their own plans, Hikari pulls Tenten aside.

"I've got an idea, but the boys can't know," she whispers.

"Oh?"

\--

The boys' plan was failing, and Guy-sensei had found his way back to Ichida-sensei. Separating them had worked for a bit, but not for terribly long. Guy was too fast, too strong, and unfortunately, too observant to not notice Neji and Toki leading her away while Lee and Kande took him on.

And Ichida-sensei was too good at her clan's specialty, even if Neji was nailing away at her chakra points.

Toki, surprisingly, revealed himself to be a genjutsu user— though his sensei was too familiar with his type of genjutsu to be too much help, they managed to distract Guy for a bit with it. And Kande's lightning jutsu revealed to be useful against his sensei's earth style tracking; but the gap in experience was far too wide. Eventually, all four boys were pushed back to where the girls were posted, tired and out of options.

As Ichida closed in on Tenten, who had the scroll in her pocket, Tenten began activating traps— traps that Guy easily began to dismantle, despite the boys' best attempts to keep him back. And as Ichida closed in on Tenten, Hikari finally came into play.

It happened quickly, as things tended to. A kick, a punch, a block. But then, suddenly, a rip of flame, and a blast of heat.

Neji and Lee glance back at their teammate to find the bandages around her hands and feet smoldering on the ground, and the skin on her limbs glowing a bright, smoldering orange-red. Neji's byakugan could see beneath the surface— Hikari was passing her fire chakra through the points in her hands and feet incredibly quickly, heating up her skin, flesh and bone into red-hot, rock hard striking weapons. The grass she danced across keeping Ichida at bay smoldered and burned, her footsteps tracking their fight. The technique required perfect chakra control; Neji was almost impressed.

A fire ninjutsu... one perfectly suited to taijutsu users.

It suddenly clicked for Team Guy why the girl had showed up that misty spring morning.

Even Hikari's fiery punches couldn't keep their sensei at bay for too long, however, and soon the kids are restrained and defeated, Ichida holding the scroll in her hand victoriously.

"That was a good fight," she chuckles, tossing the scroll in the air and catching it. Guy notices something as she tosses it a second time, and snatches it out of the air.

"... Sayoko," he says, removing the gold ribbon and pulling the scroll open. Tenten and Hikari both smirk at each other as their senseis are suddenly covered in glitter and shaving cream, confetti flying everywhere with a loud bang. The boys' mouths drop open as silence and glitter hang in the air for a few moments.

Guy sputters and wipes his face with one hand.

"... This isn't the scroll," he says quietly. Hikari and Tenten burst into loud, raucous laughter, nearly toppling one another over— they were tied together.

"GOTCHA!" Hikari shrieks, and Ichida-sensei scrapes cream off her face to reveal a furious expression and bright red cheeks.

"... YOU LITTLE SHITS!" she screams, throwing the soap in her hand at the two girls, who shriek happily. The scene is so ridiculous— Guy-sensei shell-shocked, covered in rainbow flaked white ooze, Ichida-sensei fuming as the girls cry in laughter.

Lee loses his shit first, followed shortly by Toki and Kande. Even Neji can't help but crack a smile. The training exercise devolves into laughter and bubble fights, and Guy finds glitter in his jumpsuit for weeks afterwards.

\--

A year passes, and the teams grow closer and closer together. And Hikari becomes damn near inseparable with Lee. He would follow and join Team Ichida's training after Hikari's training with Team Guy, and then the two would return to Hikari's place as she cooked in preparation for that evening's training. Missions were the only time they were apart, but the two teams began attending more and more missions together.

It was a wonder to Tenten how Hikari hadn't confessed yet. Or how Lee hadn't caught on. She'd caught them napping together in the grass, for god's sake.

It was one of those sweet, hazy June days that Hikari finally opened up to him.

"Lee-kun?" She asks, her head resting on his stomach as he looks up at the sky.

"Yes, Hikari-chan?" He asks, craning his head up for a moment to look her in the eye. She blushes a bit and breaks the eye contact, turning back up to the clouds passing overhead.

"I gotta tell you somethin'." She sits up, too embarrassed to touch him. "Uhm, you know the academy?"

Lee sits up as well, wondering what brought this on. "Yes, I do remember."

"And the bullies? The names?" She sets her chin on her knees. The memories haunted her, but not the memories of her.

The memories of him.

They both relive them; the taunting, the shunning. Children could be so cruel.

"Yes, I remember," he finally says. "Why do you—?"

"I know 'cuz I was there." She finally says, not looking at him.

"There?" He pauses— he knew she was in his class, but he had never truly paid attention to her. She was a shadow in his past, nothing more.

"Yeah, there. I... knew about you, about the bullying," she mumbles.

"... Everyone did, Hikari-chan," he reassures, but she shakes her head.

"I should have done something, for all the time I spent watching." She bites the inside of her cheek. "I was a coward."

"Hikari-chan." He puts a hand on her shoulder, and she peeks behind at him. At his smiling face. "Did you not tell me you had bullies too?"

"I did," she admits.

"How could you have stood up for me when you could not do the same for yourself?" he asks, and she tenses, pulling away.

"I know. I'm a fucking coward," she mutters. Lee blanches a bit.

"I did not mean it like that, Hikari-chan!" he insists. "I simply meant that you were struggling with your own problems. You could not have saved both me and you."

"I could barely save me," she chuckles bitterly.

"Exactly." He takes her hand, making her cheeks flush. Her eyes snap up to meet his. Those dark pools were warm, forgiving a sin he'd never known about. "Please do not think about that anymore."

"I always admired you," she blurts, and both of their faces go rosy.

"Me?"

"Yeah." Hikari's hand tightens around Lee's bandages. "I wanted to be like you, and I should have told you then. You... always worked so hard, at that stump."

His face goes even pinker, and she gasps, realizing she admitted she'd spied on him. She pulls her hand back quickly, standing up in her embarrassment.

"Sorry, that's so creepy," she laughs, trying to joke away the tension in the air.

"... It is nice." Lee says, and she glances over her shoulder at him. "I... never thought myself worthy of admiration."

"What?!" Hikari spins around and drops onto her knees, looking him full in the face. "You're the coolest person I know!"

Lee's face goes even darker, and Hikari's matches him, but she doesn't stop.

"I decided to start training more in taijutsu because I wanted to be like you! I wanted to get better, I wanted to BE better! You were my inspiration, you were my worl—"

The words spill out of her lips before she can stop them, but she catches the last word before it exposed her. The two stare at each other, cheeks pounding with blood, and neither can find words to say. The moment stretches into eternity, Hikari gaping like a fish at her own forwardness. The look on Lee's face was too much for her to bear. His eyebrows were so far up his face that his bangs covered them completely, his mouth hanging open, his cheeks glowing red.

It was the first time he had ever heard anyone talk about him like that. He almost could not believe what his ears were hearing. The girl on her hands and knees before him, leaning in with her passion, nearly shouting his praise. The gold in her eyes was shimmering— he had never noticed before just how clear and beautiful they were.

He speaks first.

"H... Hikari-chan, I—"

He doesn't get far.

"HEY!"

Both teens turn to look at Toki and Kande, trotting up with arms outstretched in greeting.

"Sorry we're late, I—" Toki starts, before noticing just what he stumbled into. "... Are we interrupting something~?"

The cat-like grin that stretches across his face shakes Hikari out of her trance.

"NOPE, NOT AT ALL, NOTHING HERE BUT TRAINING," she hollers, jumping up and darting towards Toki. He can't move fast enough to get out of the way, and she body slams him into the ground.

"GWUAH!" He yelps. "GAH, FUCK! HIKARI! HIKARI-CHAN, STOP!"

Kande shakes his head, chuckling as Hikari put her nosy teammate in a headlock, before looking over at the deflated Lee and wondering what exactly they'd interrupted.

Something was finally happening, and he hoped they hadn't stopped it before it could really start. Hikari had a tendency to move slow.

\--

She always moved too slow.

Hikari noticed something was off about how Lee was acting when they started the chunin exams. The group had decided to try and keep a low profile as they went inside the first building, but some shady bullies were guarding a door they'd put a genjutsu on.

A great start to the day, of course. Letting themselves be knocked around by two no-names who thought they were tough shit.

But then, all of a sudden, a new team showed up. It was Kakashi's team, one of the teams of rookies turning up at the exams. Guy-sensei had a rivalry with Kakashi, but Hikari had only met him once or twice, and in passing.

The team of kids didn't look tough— some blonde twink, a girl with pink hair and pinker clothes, and a moody kid with black hair. But she knew better than to underestimate them. Lee had been raving and preparing for weeks.

The black haired kid was Sasuke Uchiha, the survivor of the Uchiha massacre— and the blonde was Naruto Uzumaki, the jinchuriki. The kid with the demon fox. Lee, in his research, had mostly been preparing to take on Sasuke, but Hikari knew better than to overlook a kid with a demon in his stomach.

Sasuke pointed out the genjutsu on the room; and the bullies, put off by the discovery, decided to start a fight.

But just as Sasuke and the bully's legs were about to connect, Lee jumped in.

Hikari's eyebrows rocket up her face.  _ He _ wanted this low profile; it had been his idea. Why was he showing off now?

As they move along, Hikari peeks back at him, trying to get a read— and notices Lee walk up to the group, introducing himself. She lingers at the doorway, eavesdropping.

"My name is Rock Lee," he says. "You are Sakura, right?"

Hikari's stomach drops to the floor, and she can feel her pulse pounding in fear.

No... it couldn't...?

"Huh?" The girl replied, a blank expression on her face.

Lee, his cheeks pink, flashes his signature grin and thumbs up, trying to be as charming as he could.

"Please be my girlfriend!" He proclaims. "I vow to protect you with my very life!"

It was like the floor fell out from under her. Her blood freezes and her heart pumps bass into her ears. She could barely hear the response.

"Definitely... not."

"Why?" Lee croaks, looking crestfallen.

"Because you're a  _ weirdo _ ," the girl scoffs, and the blonde beside her cackles at the rejection.

Toki grabs her hand, noticing the look on her face.

"Straight face, Hikari-chan," he mumbles. "You look like you're gonna puke."

"I might as well," she whispers back, tears welling up in her eyes.

"Don't cry," he pats her back, hurrying her away from prying eyes. In the background, Neji confronts Sasuke, but the crowd quickly disperses as the raven-haired boy dismisses him and moves along to the third floor.

"He's pretty bold," Tenten notes. "You gonna challenge him?"

Neji simply huffs in return, and Tenten turns to Lee, and Kande, who was using his height to guard Hikari's mortification.

"Lee, you guys, are you coming?" She asks. "What are you waiting for, we're supposed to check in."

"I will catch up with you in a minute," Lee says, his voice weirdly firm. "You do not need to wait for me, I just want to check something."

And with that, off he goes. Tenten looks at his retreating back, before over at Kande, who shrugs.

"Hikari's having some last minute stomach issues," he supplies as Hikari sniffles and gags. "Go on, we'll be there in a sec."

"Alright..." Tenten looks concerned, but accepts the answer and heads off with Neji, leaving Team Ichida alone in the corridor.

"... You good?" Kande asks, and Toki barks up at him.

"OF COURSE she's not good you fucking idiot!" He snaps, rubbing the girl's back.

"Guys," Hikari snuffles, giving a little cough and clearing her throat. "Give me a minute alone, okay?"

"... Are you sure?" Kande asks.

"Yeah, just a minute alone. Then I'll be good." She whispers.

Toki rubs her back one more time, before grabbing Kande's arm and trotting off.

The second they're out of sight, Hikari hightails it after Lee. She needed to talk with him.

\--

Again, she's just a little too slow. Lee was already confronting Kakashi's team, and all Hikari could do was watch from a hiding place on the balcony. He challenged Sasuke to a battle— a test against the Uchiha clan's final member. And then, again, he proclaimed his love for that girl.

Sakura.

How had she never come up? With all the time he spent with her, with all of the research he'd done, how had she never caught on?

Her eyes narrow as Lee blows kisses to the girl, and she dodges in disgust. Who was this bitch? This nobody, pink-haired, girly, weak little cunt? She'd never felt this kind of hatred before. Her blood, ice cold from Lee's confession, was boiling now. Even as a fire chakra user, she'd never been this heated. This was a kind of rage she didn't know how to handle.

The rage didn't cool as Lee challenged the arrogant raven-hair to a match, but she couldn't help but feel a sense of pride as he worked his magic; quickly dispatching Naruto, and then Sasuke himself.

Lee'd spent so much of himself for the power he was displaying, even if it was for some ungrateful wench and her boy toys. It was cathartic to see Sakura lunge forward to catch the falling Uchiha before he could be hurt.

There's your pathetic boy, part of a pathetic team.

But the appearance of Ningame was not good, and Hikari knew what would follow.

"You were watching us the whole time?" Lee asks, and the tortoise scoffs.

"Of course I was," he scolds. "I see you there too, Hikari."

Hikari's heart leaps into her throat, and she freezes. That was even MORE not good. That was, in fact, very fucking bad.

"Hikari-chan?" Lee asks.

"Come down here from hiding, Hikari," Ningame calls. "You should have stopped Lee when you knew what he was doing."

Hikari peeks her head above the railing to look down at the group in shame.

"I was... just wandering by," she lies. Ningame only glares at her, to which she squeaks and jumps down, scratching behind her head.

Naruto and his team watch the chubby ninja girl as she lands— a dark skinned teenager, almost as fat as Choji, with tight mahogany brown curls swept up on top of her head in a huge, puffy ponytail. She was wearing a long, loose haori over a pair of overalls, with bandages around her hands and feet, a little like Lee's. She was also noticeably wearing Geta, instead of the standard ninja sandals. Her big, gold eyes were downcast and watery.

'They just get weirder and weirder,' Naruto can't help but think as Ningame scolds both her and Lee. It was obvious they knew each other.

"YOU'RE A DISGRACE, BOTH OF YOU," Ningame chides, and Hikari and Lee both cringe. "A shinobi never reveals their techniques unless absolutely necessary, it's such a basic rule! You both should know it by now!"

"Forgive me, sir," Lee mumbles, and Hikari tugs at the sleeves over her haori.

"You're... not gonna tell Ichida-sensei about this, are you?" Hikari ventures, and cringes as Ningame gives a loud, sarcastic guffaw.

"You honestly think I'm just going to let you off? You're complicit too," he snorts. "Are you prepared to take the punishment for your actions?"

"Yessir," Hikari and Lee both whisper, and Ningame huffs.

"Alright then. Please come out, Guy-sensei!"

And with a puff of smoke, and a flashy pose, Guy was on the scene.

"Heyyyyy, what's shakin’? How ya doin' everybody?! Life treatin' ya good?"

Hikari looks down in embarrassment as he notices she was there as well, not even noticing the shouts of surprise and disgust behind her.

"Hi, Lee, Hikari," he starts with a charismatic grin.

"OH, THAT'S where he gets it," Naruto crows from behind them. "Same soup-bowl haircut, and even bushier eyebrows!"

Lee can't help himself, and whips around to shout at the boy.

"HEY! DO NOT INSULT GUY-SENSEI! HE IS ONE OF THE GREATEST MEN IN THE ENTIRE WORLD!"

"Well EXCUSE ME for not NOTICING HIS GREATEST, I was TOO BUSY watching him CRAWL OUT from UNDERNEATH a TURTLE!!" Naruto snaps back.

"HE DID NOT! CRAWL! OUT!" Lee hollers.

"Give it a rest, Lee," Guy says, smile still in place. Hikari blushes deeply— this was absolutely mortifying to witness.

"Now for your punishment..." Guy winds up and socks Lee in the face, sending him flying. "YOU FOOL!"

Kakashi's team gives a startled shout, and Hikari sits down beside Ningame to watch the scene play out.

"... If I get you some of Ichida-sensei's carrots, will you  _ consider _ not telling her?" She whispers.

"Not a chance, Kumoka," Ningame huffs. "... But I may suggest she go easy on you."

\--

"...And Hikari," Guy says, turning towards her. "I know you like to watch, but next time, be a little more proactive."

Hikari's face goes even darker red.

"DON'T FUCKING SAY IT LIKE THAT," she shrieks, covering her eyes. At the looks Kakashi's team gives her, she throws herself against Ningame's shell. "DON'T LOOK AT ME LIKE THAT!"

Lee only blinks in confusion.

"I will be reporting this to Sayoko," Guy says. "Until then, Lee, Hikari, accompany these fine young ninja to the classroom. Right now."

"Yessir," Hikari and Lee reply, Hikari barely mumbling.

"Remember, give it your best!" Guy proclaims as Lee starts wrapping his hand back up. "Lee, Hikari! Farewell!"

And with another puff of smoke, it's over.

"Hey, Sasuke." Hikari glances over as Lee regards the Uchiha. "Actually, I have not been totally honest with you."

Hikari's eyes trail over as Lee warns Sasuke about Neji, and stop on Sakura's figure. The girl tenses as she notices she's being looked at.

"... Uh... can I help you?" She asks. Naruto looks between the two kunoichi.

Hikari feels the rage start to bubble back up, dissipating her humiliation.

"You can help me by fucking dying," she spits, surprising herself at how harsh she was being. Thankfully, Lee was too concerned with Sasuke to notice.

Sakura blinks in surprise.

"What did I ever do?!"

"That's my fucking question!" Hikari marches up to the girl and grabs her shirtfront.

"HEY!" Sakura gasps.

"Hey! Watch it!" Naruto starts.

"Stay out of it, you little fucking twink," Hikari snaps, staring daggers at him.

"... twink?" He mumbles.

Hikari's glittering gold eyes cave deep into Sakura's jade green ones, searching. Searching for what this little bitch had.

"... fucking worthless," she spits, pushing her chest and letting her thump to the ground.

"Ow! Hey!"

Hikari glances over her shoulder as Lee makes his dramatic escape, before regarding Sakura with hatred evident in her face.

"... I have no idea why he chose you. But the chunin exam should finish you off, anyway." She scoffs, kicking her leg.

"HEY!" Naruto starts fully towards her at this point, and Hikari whips a single arm around. Sasuke yanks his arm, stopping him right before he impaled an eye on her outstretched needles.

"... What's YOUR deal? You like watching?" Sasuke asks.

Hikari's face goes bright red.

"God-fucking-dammit, why did Guy-sensei have to say it like that?" She shakes her head and holds up her hands dismissively. "Listen. I don't know how good you are, Uchiha. I don't actually care, either."

Sasuke's eyebrows slowly raise at the proclamation.

"You don't want a piece of me like your weird friend?" he scoffs.

"Not at all. Lee will have that pleasure, you pathetic little shit." She grins, and the scar on her lip strains. "But this one?"

Sakura flinches backwards as Hikari flicks her hand down at her, showering the ground she was sitting on in needles.

"This one's mine. Stay out of my way."

And with that, Hikari makes her own dramatic exit then, and the three pause to consider everything that just happened.

Then something Hikari said clicks in Sakura's head.

"... 'why he chose me?'" Her face twists in disgust. "She's gonna kill me over HIM?!"

"What?" Naruto blinks.

"WHY HIM?! EW!" Sakura yanks at her hair. "ANYONE ELSE! NOT HIM!"

"What?! I dun' get it!?"

\--

As Lee was carried away by the medic-nin, covered in blood and sand, Hikari screams in anguish. Kande and Toki both had to hold her back from bolting down the stairs towards them.

"HIKARI, you CAN'T. You have to STAY HERE," Kande hisses as she thrashes in his arms, tears and snot rolling down her face.

"I'M GOING! YOU CAN'T STOP ME! LEE! LEE!" She shrieks. Neji watches her shriek and struggle, staying away and out of it. This was inevitable, he thought. And yet, deep inside, he could feel his chest tighten a little more with each scream.

Kande and Toki pin her down, and she sobs into the concrete, nails scraped and bloody from clawing at the floor. Naruto and Kankuro, both closest to the scene, inch away slowly.

'That bitch is insane,' Kankuro thinks to himself. 'Fucking nuts.'

'Woah, Bushy-hair's really worked up,' Naruto thinks, watching her cry. 'She must really care about Bushy-brow.'

Sakura remembers Hikari's earlier threat, and swallows audibly. She figured she was devoted, but... not THAT devoted.

Kande's forced to get up for the next match— paired against Dosu, a sound-village nin— but by then, Hikari had been pacified, curled up against Toki as he rubbed her back to comfort her. She barely watches the match, her golden eyes dull with shock and anguish, and Toki is forced to watch both his friends suffer; Kande puts up a good fight, but ultimately loses.

His hands are shaking as the next opponents are selected, ready to go and fight.

Horror washes over him as Hikari's name comes on screen, facing Choji Akimichi.

"Wait, no," he starts as Choji screams in relief across the arena. "No, she can't! She's not ready!"

"... Does she forfeit the match?" Genma calls.

"She has to, sh—"

Hikari suddenly climbs to her feet, startling every onlooker.

"Absolutely... absolutely fucking not." She hisses, stumbling a bit as she made her way towards the stairs. Choji grimaces, but starts down as well.

'This is good,' he reasons. 'She can't be that bad, look at her. She was bawling ten minutes ago, she was—'

As they meet at the bottom of the stairs, though, he catches her eyes.

The dull gold was sparkling again. Shimmering, glittering with rage. Not at him, exactly. At Gaara. At Dosu. At the world, for hurting her friends. For hurting the people she loved.

At herself, for not being able to do anything to protect them.

"That's not good," he says aloud.

Hikari storms up to Genma, who steps back, a bit startled.

"Why didn't you stop him?" she hisses. He gives a little cough.

"I'm sorry—?"

"YOU STOPPED NEJI. Why didn't you stop HIM?!" Her hand whips and points directly at Gaara. "YOU USELESS PIECE OF SHIT. YOU—"

"That's ENOUGH, Hikari!"

Hikari turns, as does the rest of the hall. Ichida was standing in the doorway, arms crossed over her chest.

"You can't win for Lee if you get disqualified for trying to fight the judge," she says, striding over to her.

"BUT HE—"

SLAP.

A stunned silence as Hikari lets her head hang where Ichida's hand put it.

"STOP IT, Hikari." She barks. "This is so unbecoming. Would you want Lee to see you like this?"

Hikari gives a little strangled sob, and Sayoko feels her hands shake.

"Go win," she says, pulling her into a hug. "Go win, for him."

\--

Choji didn't stand a chance. Hikari was too hot, too wired.

She took her position across from him, a dead, flat look on her face. The only spark in her expression was her eyes. Those molten eyes.

She lazily kicks off her geta, raising a few eyebrows.

"Why'd she... take off her shoes?" Sakura asks Ichida as she walks over to join Kakashi.

"You'll see," Ichida sighs, and Kakashi eyes her. He knew what she was feeling right now. He knew it firsthand.

"Will she be okay?" He asks his fellow sensei.

"Remains to be seen," Ichida responds honestly.

The match starts.

There's a tense moment of silence, before Choji hollers, ramping himself up.

"LET'S GET THIS DONE! RAHHHH!" He forms a seal with his hands, before puffing up like a big meatball.

"YEAHHH, Choji!" Ino shouts. "Fatty vs Fatty!"

"I'M COMING FOR YOU NEXT, INO!" Choji shouts, sucking his arms and legs into his expansion jutsu. His body bounces up, and then starts towards Hikari, rolling like a giant wrecking ball towards her.

Shikamaru watches her perform the hand seals, as her hands and feet suddenly start to smoke, and then the bandages around them flash fire and crumble to cinders. Toki's eyes widen as her limbs pass from red, to orange, to yellow, and then begin to brighten into white.

She'd never gotten this hot before. He'd only ever seen her make it to yellow.

"Is her... skin burning?" Sakura yelps.

"C... Choji, get out of there!" Toki yells, startling Shikamaru and Ino. He was yelling to protect... Choji? Her own teammate?

The second Choji's rolling body comes close, Hikari hunkers down, her feet searing into the concrete, rears back, and sinks a single fist deep into his belly. There's a painful sounding sizzle, a shriek of sheer agony, a loud pop of smoke, and all of a sudden, Choji's body rockets across the arena, slamming backwards into the wall and creating a sizable dent. He coughs blood as he bounces off and lands face first on the floor, unmoving.

There's a long pause of silence.

"CH... CHOJI!" Ino shrieks in horror. "CHOJI, ARE YOU OKAY? CHOJI!"

Hikari's limbs start to cool down, crackling and smoking, and covered in burns. Her body wasn't ready for that level of heat yet, but the look on her face betrayed no pain as her flesh sizzled like barbecue. Flat, and hollow, eyes glittering with anger. Her only pain was for Lee.

Ichida winces softly.

"... I don't think she will be," she says softly.

\--

Hikari stands in front of Lee's room, holding flowers, but she can't bring herself to go inside. She didn't want to see him... like that. Passersby noticed the girl trembling, and saw the tears streaming down her face, but minded their own business, letting her agonize.

It was the appearance of Shikamaru and Ino that shook her out of her own head.

"... Hey, aren't you that girl?"

She turns to look at the two, and they both jump at the look of misery and destitution on her face.

"... Are you okay?"

Hikari blinks a few times before she recognizes them, and hurriedly wipes at her eyes with the sleeve of her haori.

"Oh. Uhm. Yeah, I'm sorry. You guys were with... you guys were with the guy I..."

Her face goes bright red, and she sputters softly.

"I'm... I don't know what came over me, that day," she whispers. Shikamaru groans softly.

"We... were just on our way to see him," he offers evenly. Ino looks at him in surprise. "You want to come?"

Hikari blinks a couple times.

"Might be a good time to apologize," he offers again, searching her face.

"... Yeah. Yeah, it might." She shakes her head again, as if trying to clear her mind. "What was your name?"

"Shikamaru," he says, holding out a lazy hand. "And this is Ino."

"I'm Hikari," she reaches to take it. He notices her fingers peeking from her bandages— covered with barely healed burns. Her hands were blazing hot, too. The girl had real body heat.

Not that that surprised him very much.

Shikamaru leads Hikari to Choji's room, where he's sitting up in his hospital bed, munching on a fruit basket someone had brought him. As he sees Hikari enter, he shrieks.

"SHE'S COME TO FINISH THE JOB!" He tosses the basket at her, and Shikamaru intervenes to catch it.

"Chill! We asked her to come," he says, sighing in exasperation.

"Oh," Choji blinks, taking her in.

He didn't really get a chance to look at her that day, not really. She'd just been the enemy fatty, at that point. It hadn't even really set in that she was a girl.

But looking at her now, cheeks all rosy with embarrassment, holding a bouquet of flowers, shiny, curly hair pulled up in a ponytail with a golden bow... he realized she was, in fact, a girl. A cute girl.

His cheeks flush.

"Are those... for me?" He asks, and Ino pales. She knew EXACTLY who they were for, and it definitely wasn't Choji.

"Oh," Hikari looks down at the flowers in her hands, before giving a little nod, and holding them out towards him. "Here, please."

Ino and Shikamaru stand back in slight disbelief as she gave the flowers for Lee to their teammate, and he accepted them with an open mouth and red face. Choji hadn't actually thought they were for him, the thought just slipped out.

"I wanted to apologize. I went way, way overboard," Hikari mumbles, rubbing her arm. Choji's eyes follow her hands and fall to her chest, squishing against her shirtfront with the bashful motion.

"Uh... uh-huh," he chuffs dumbly.

"I really hope you won't hold it against me. I have no idea what... came over me that day," she continues, her eyes finding his. Her long black lashes shone with tears, and her golden irises shimmer sweetly.

Choji feels his soul leave his body.

"IT— IT WAS NO PROBLEM, I DIDN'T EVEN FEEL A THING," he proclaims, thumping his own chest.

"Oh." Hikari blinks a couple times, before flashing a relieved little smile. "I'm glad I didn't hurt you too bad. Maybe my taijutsu still needs work."

Choji's soul returns to his body just to leave it again at her smile, and Shikamaru scoffs loudly. His friend had been bitching and complaining about the giant burn on his stomach for days— about how bad it hurt and how he wanted it to stop.

Ino can't help but giggle.

"Uh, Hikari, right? Can I call you Hikari-san?" She asks.

"Oh. Hikari-chan is fine too," Hikari turns to address her.

"Hikari-chan. How have we never met yet?" Ino sits down, and Hikari sits beside her.

"Oh, I'm from the year before you, I think," Hikari muses.

"Hikari-SENPAI, then?" Ino smiles, and Hikari sputters and laughs.

"No, no, definitely not senpai," she giggles.

"That jutsu was incredible— I've never seen anything like it," Ino says, and Hikari blushes.

"Took a lot of work to get it there," she admits. "I owe Lee-kun a lot."

The whole room cringes at his name, and Ino sputters to try and move the conversation away from him.

"Uh, uhm, I know those flowers! Did you get them from my family's store?" She asks.

"Oh, actually... maybe?" Hikari blinks.

"The Yamanaka flower shop," Ino clarifies, and Hikari smiles and nods.

"Oh! Yeah, I did. They're beautiful!"

\--

Ino and Hikari chat for a while, and Choji and Shikamaru hang back, mostly just listening.

As a lull passes through the conversation, Hikari's eyes drift to the window, and she suddenly stands up.

"I've gotta go. It was really nice meeting you," she says suddenly, darting out of the room. Ino watches her go in confusion, and Shikamaru looks out of the window she was. He pales, and elbows Ino sharply.

"Hey! What's the big ide—oh shit."

From the view of the hospital window, down by the bridge running over the creek, the team could see Sakura standing in front of a familiar green boy on crutches, holding a bouquet of flowers.

Thankfully, Sakura wrapped up her conversation and left Lee on the bridge a few moments before Hikari sprinted up, and Ino and Shikamaru both let out a sigh of relief.

On the bridge, Hikari skids to a stop in front of Lee before she can think about what she's doing, and the two stop and stare at one another.

"... Hikari-chan," Lee blinks, holding the flowers tightly. "I—"

"How could you be so reckless?"

Hikari didn't know what her first words would be to him, but she certainly didn't know it would be that. It shocked both of them, and she felt a pang of hypocrisy twinge in her chest.

"Hikari-chan," Lee starts again.

"That wasn't worth your life." Her fists tighten so hard her knuckles pop and her bandages creak.

"Hikari-chan."

"What— what would have happened if I'd lost you?!"

"Hikari-chan."

"You could have never defeated Neji if you'd died, Lee!" Hikari's shouting by now, tears fully running down her face.

"Hikari-chan," Lee moves towards her, and she stomps the ground hard enough to crack it slightly.

"Goddammit Lee!" She shouts, before choking on a sob.

Lee drops the flowers he was holding to wrap her in a hug, and she hugs him back, her hands gripping into his jumpsuit and trembling.

"I missed you," he says simply, and the girl bursts into loud, uncontrollable sobbing. He holds her close for a long time, tears sitting just on the edges of his own lashes, letting her cry.

Shikamaru closes the window and the blinds.

\--

"We heard you failed the Chunin exam," Hikari's father says over dinner. Hikari gives a little flinch at his tone. This wouldn't be good.

"Why wouldn't you tell us that?" Her mother asks sharply. "Hearing from the neighbors... mortifying."

"Everyone failed the Chunin exam," Hikari mumbles into her rice.

"Not that Nara boy," her mother snorts. Hikari's ears twitch at that— he'd passed? It must have been for a special reason.

Not that her mother would have cared.

"Made it to the third round and failed," her father scoffs.

"I didn't even get to my fight," Hikari looks up, frowning. "The arena was attacked before I could—"

"That's no excuse," her father snaps. "If you'd done better in the qualifying rounds, you would have gone first, and not that Neji boy."

"Neji's way better than I am," Hikari defends, and her mother laughs scornfully.

"We know that, Hikari," she says. Hikari swallows, her gold eyes returning to her dish.

The table is silent again, before she reaches out for another helping of beef, and her mother pulls it away from her.

"Perhaps you've had enough for tonight, Hikari," she says. "Don't you have training tomorrow? Why haven't you been going in the mornings lately?"

Hikari flinches again, hard.

Lee was the reason. His absence was like a gaping wound.

"If you're not going in the mornings, you shouldn't have another serving," her mother tuts. "I only allowed it before because you were getting extra exercise."

"I'm hungry," Hikari mumbles.

"Then you should go in the morning, and tomorrow you can have more." Her father says firmly.

Hikari slams her bowl down on the table and stands up.

"Where do you think you're going?!" Her mother scoffs.

"On a fucking walk," Hikari snaps back, storming out.

"Ho— HOW DARE you use that kind of language..."

Her mother's shrieking fades into the background as she flees the house, skirting her way to the training ground.

Her and Lee's training ground.

The stump'd sat empty for weeks, evidenced by the moss that was starting to grow on its smooth, worn surface. As Hikari walks up, she runs her fingers delicately across it.

Looking at the fuzzy green lichen, she suddenly felt that same fire of rage build up in her chest, and she attacks it, scraping at it with her fingernails, huffing and wheezing and grunting with the effort.

She stands back when she realizes the stump was starting to smear with red. Her fingers were raw and bleeding, nails cracked and stained green with bits of moss.

Hikari breaks down crying at the base of the stump, like she'd seen Lee do many times before. Her body racks and heaves, and she sobs until sunrise, when the gentle, soothing sun lulls her to sleep.

\--

Ichida-sensei finds her catatonic the next day at sunset— awake but not really there. She'd missed training.

"Hikari," she sighs softly, scooping the girl up in her arms and carrying her to the base of a nearby tree.

"... I need to get better," Hikari manages after a long, long silence.

"Hikari," Sayoko says sternly. "Don't. Don't go down that path."

"I need to," Hikari looks up at her. "And I can't... stay here to do it."

"... What do you mean?" Sayoko studies the girl's face.

"I'm from Kumogakure, aren't I?" Hikari's dark skin, rubbed red and raw on her cheeks, shimmers in the evening sunset. Sayoko's breath catches in her chest.

"... You want to go to Kumogakure?" She asks.

"I'm from there, aren't I?" Hikari swallows a hard, tight lump in her throat. "I know I'm adopted. My parents are light skinned."

"... Your file suggests that, yes." Sayoko sits back. "Hikari, this isn't a decision you should make so lightly, or quickly."

Hikari stares at her, and Sayoko can feel the words curdle in the back of her throat. This wasn't a decision she was taking lightly, and she knew it. They both knew it.

"... Over a boy," her sensei says softly.

"He's not just a boy," Hikari whispers.

A long silence is punctuated only by the sound of the late summer breeze rustling through the tender golden leaves around them.

"... I'll see what I can arrange," Sayoko whispers, gently pulling Hikari into a hug. "We'll miss you."

Hikari only sobs quietly into her shirt in response.

\--

The weeks passed quickly after Ichida-sensei found Hikari a mentorship; almost too quickly for her. Everything seemed to speed by twice as fast as it usually did, and Hikari felt like she was moving ten times slower than before. People and events came and went, and in her haze, life had gone by without her. The third hokage's funeral passed. Naruto, the kid who'd beaten the snot out of Neji and helped save the village, had left on a mission to find one of the legendary Sannin. And Ichida broke the news of Hikari's mentorship to the team.

Toki and Kande didn't take it well. Toki gave Hikari the silent treatment for a week, but Kande convinced him to approach her and make up before she left.

"Hikari-chan."

She turns to face the two boys, the twilight sun on her back. She'd been leaving with Ichida-sensei after classes, staying with her sensei at her apartment after her parents disowned her for deciding to leave the village.

"... You don't have to go," Toki croaks, his voice breaking with sudden tears. Kande slaps his arm, choking back tears of his own.

"That's not what we discussed, Toki," he hisses, wiping at his face with the palm of his hand.

Hikari swallows loudly, a single hot tear tracing its way down her face.

"... You guys know I have to," she whispers. "I can't stay here. It hurts too much to stay here."

"You could live with me!" Toki begs. "You-you could stay in my room. I have room. I could put a futon down."

All three were crying at this point.

"Toki, come on," Hikari sputters, giving a loud sniffle and wiping at her face.

"... Please don't go, Hikari," Kande's words were barely audible over Toki's loud hiccuping.

"Not you too, Kande," she sobs, and Toki throws himself into her arms, bawling. Sayoko has to excuse herself from the three— she couldn't let them see her crying, too. She presses a hand to her eyes, hidden away behind a tree trunk as they all sob.

\--

It was the week of Lee's surgery. Naruto's mission had been a smashing success, and he'd brought back Konoha's Fifth Hokage with him: Tsunade, one of the legendary Sannin.

She'd taken one look at Lee and informed him, and Guy-sensei, that the surgery would either return his body to normal... or kill him. Hikari was the next, and last one to know. She'd started visiting Lee again regularly, putting on a fake smile that strained the scar on her lip.

She hadn't told him about her mentorship yet. She wasn't sure she was going to at all. But he'd told her about the surgery... and that made the decision even harder on her.

That night at the hospital was the hardest one she'd ever faced in her short life. Guy pledged his life to Lee, on a balcony neither were aware she was peeking in on.

"Listen, Lee."

Lee, in tears, looks up at his sensei, and Hikari covers her mouth to keep in her own breathy sobs.

"If you wish to be free of this suffering... you need to make a decision."

Hikari and Lee both jump at his stern tone.

Lee's voice shook with fresh tears.

"Do you mean... I should be prepared to give up on my dreams?" He asks, shoulders shaking from suppressed sobs.

"If you lose your dreams, you'll undergo pain far worse than what you feel now." Guy's silhouette was resolute in the dark. "The two of us have a lot in common, Lee. Without our ninja way to guide us, you and I? We'd never survive."

Hikari swallows down a soft sob, doing her best to stay quiet. The silence was thick, and tense, as Guy grit his teeth and opened his mouth once again.

"Get the operation, Lee."

Lee gasps a bit, his body shaking with the effort, before his eyes sweep down to the floor. Hikari feels her nails bite into her flesh, hands trembling uncontrollably.

Lee speaks again.

"You know... it is funny, but I... I remember when you and Kakashi-sensei decided to compete against each other with a game of rock, paper scissors."

Hikari looks up at this— she hadn't been there. It must have been early, early in their relationship as mentor and pupil.

"He was saying that skill was not enough. That sometimes, you need luck." Lee wipes at his face with an arm. "And this surgery is 50/50 too... Live or die. But..."

He looks up at Guy, his eyes rimmed with exhaustion, nearly as dark and black as the boy who'd crippled him.

"This is not some kids' game!"

Guy tenses, eyebrows raising in surprise, before closing his eyes with a smile.

"And what happened after that?" He asks. "You do remember, don'tcha, Lee?"

Lee pauses, as if remembering something painful, and then he smiles wistfully. Hikari can't help but wonder what he held in that memory, that he kept so close to his heart.

"Of course... how could I forget? That was the day you first taught me the principles behind our self-imposed rules." He whispers.

"You worked hard, Lee." Guy says, smiling. "There's no doubt in my mind the surgery will be a success."

Lee looks up in shock, and Hikari feels her heart begin to shake.

"You have the power to shape your own destiny. And on the one in a thousand— no, one in a  _ million _ chance something should happen to go wrong..."

Guy's shoulders tighten.

"I will die right along with you."

Hikari's lungs freeze over, and then ignite on fire, and her chest trembles with stifled sobs as Lee's eyes overflow with tears.

"Since I met you, my nindo has been to train you to become the most splendid ninja possible." Guy says, giving Lee a thumbs up and a smile. " _ That's _ a promise."

Lee throws himself into Guy's arms, sobbing loudly, letting himself be racked with overwhelming sobs of relief. He can only cry Guy-sensei's name, and let himself be held. Hikari slinks back, pressing her back against the doorframe out of sight, crying quietly to herself.

After a few long moments of tears, Guy's ear picks up on the sound of Hikari's sobs. He knew her voice anywhere— he was surprised she hadn't come around as often, but he knew her peeking habits.

"Lee, I've got something for you downstairs. Wait here for a moment, alright?" He says softly, helping his student settle back down.

"Yessir," Lee sniffles, wiping at his face.

As he passes the doorframe, he hears the rustle of the young kunoichi hiding herself, and walks by without giving away that he knew. He gives a silent prayer for her— a prayer of courage, to give her the strength to say what she needed to.

A few more long, long moments pass, and then Hikari steps into the moonlight.

\--

Hikari spends ten long, aching years in Kumogakure.

Every day, she thinks of Lee.

Seiko, her new squadmate, and her brother Hirotaka, never learn about him, because Hikari refuses to bring him up. It was too painful, and it wasn't relevant.

The years go by slowly— compared to how the weeks flew by waiting for her mentorship to start, every hour away from Konoha lasted a year.

The pain, eventually, starts to numb. Slowly, she starts to think less and less about Ichida-sensei, or Toki and Kande. About her blossoming friendships with the rookie nine.

About Neji and Tenten.

About him.

Enlisting in the chef-nin squadron was an easy choice. Her cooking was good, her fighting was even better. From the second she was a jonin, her life was set.

Then the war came and went. She was sent to the front-lines, like her other teammates. Seiko went. Hiro stayed behind to help secure the civilians. And she heard, after it was all said and done, that it was Naruto that saved them all.

And all the memories come rushing back.

Seiko can tell for weeks after the war that something was wrong. Her normally loud, chipper, and cheerful roommate was sullen and quiet. Her sparkling gold eyes dulled to bronze. Something seemed like it was eating her from the inside.

"... Hikari, something's wrong." Seiko says one night as Hikari's getting ready for bed.

"... Nothing's wrong," Hikari echoes, braiding her hair.

"No, something's definitely wrong. Did something happen?" Seiko grabs both her hands and turns Hikari towards her, looking her deep in the eyes.

Hikari breaks. Shatters before her eyes like she'd never seen her friend break before. Tears stream down her cheeks, one after the other, in a constant rain that betrayed her inner feelings.

"Holy shit!" Seiko blanches. "Oh my god, Hikari? Baby, sweetie, what's wrong? Did Hiro—"

Hikari manages to laugh through her tears.

"No, it wasn't Hiro! God, you think everything's Hiro's fault."

"It usually is." Seiko leads Hikari over to the bed, yanking a box of tissues off the vanity on the way. "Tell me, babe."

Hikari's cheeks go pink.

"... You ever wonder why I turn down every guy that tries to go out with me?" She finally says, after rolling the words over her tongue.

"I thought you were a lesbian," Seiko grins, and Hikari punches her arm.

"You know I'm bisexual, you asshole," Hikari giggles.

"Yeah, I did wonder. You never showed any interest in anyone, though." Seiko sits back.

"... There's a guy."

"I KNEW IT!"

"Shut UP," Hikari cackles, tears rolling back down her cheeks. The look on her face is viscerally uncomfortable to Seiko— that smile, and the strained, faded scar wet with tears.

"... Sorry. Keep going," she says quietly.

Hikari pauses for a long moment, the tears dripping off her cheeks and collecting on her shirtfront.

"... His name is Lee. Rock Lee."

\--

"... Damn, Hikari." Seiko sits back, looking out at the sky, slowly lightening as the sun works its rays over the distant horizon. They'd been talking all night.

"I'm a mess of a person," Hikari giggles. Her voice is hollow— emptied by the story she'd held inside herself for too long.

"... And you're thinking of Suna?" Seiko asks. Hikari nods. "Why not Konoha?"

"ARE YOU FUCKING CRAZY?!" Hikari yelps, making Seiko jump.

"God! Volume!" Seiko sticks a pinky in her ear.

"Did you  _ not _ just hear the long, depressing tale of unrequited love, or?" Hikari hisses.

"Oh, come on. I knew you were a dumb slut but this is too much," Seiko jeers, raising a lovingly judgemental eyebrow. Hikari's face flushes indignantly.

"The fuck is  _ that _ supposed to mean?" she huffs.

"Oh my fucking god, Hikari." Seiko points an accusatory finger at her. "Pull up your big girl panties and go and fuck your guy."

Hikari's mouth flaps open and shut, face going maroon.

"W-WH—" If Seiko didn't physically cut her off with her palm, her shriek would have woken the whole housing block.

"SH-SH-SH-SH. Listen to me. He's in-fucking-love with you, and YOU left HIM." Seiko's brows furrow. "All this pining and melodrama. Have you even stopped to consider how he felt about all this?"

Hikari's lungs burn with a feeling she hadn't felt in a decade as her friend cups her whole hand over her mouth. She can feel her scar tingle at the touch. Her golden eyes lock with Seiko's misty gray ones.

She'd considered it for years. For years, she'd convinced herself that Lee was better off without her. Hoped that he'd moved on. Her guilty conscience drove her to lie to herself, tell herself she "knew" he'd already forgotten about her.

"Go to Konoha." Seiko whispers.

Hikari slaps her hand aside roughly and storms to her feet, out the door into the early morning.

\--

That look lingered. His big, black eyes on her bright, golden ones. She never wanted to take her eyes off him again, but there he went, around the corner to his rendezvous.

Ten years later, and they still couldn't take their eyes off each other.

Hikari books it to her own report, and scribbles her way through the paperwork before nearly chucking it in her superior's face and flying out the door. She passes by the room— his room— on her way out of the town. Neji sees her.

Lee doesn't.

Her feet pound relentless on every tree branch she passes over. She can feel her breath burning deep in her chest. The in and out of the cold November air nearly ripped her torso apart. She couldn't stop.

She wasn't going to move too slow ever again.

The sun is her witness as she screams down the trail towards Kumogakure. From her post, the travel was usually a day away.

She makes it there by nightfall, passing by the guards and damn near body slamming into the Raikage's office door.

"PLEASE," she begs. "I NEED TO SPEAK WITH RAIKAGE-SAMA. PLEASE. IT'S ABOUT NARUTO. PLEASE."

At the orange ninja's name, the Raikage lets her in, panting and soaked in sweat.

"Yes? You have information about Naruto?" He asks, Killer B standing by.

"I—" Hikari gags on air, and the feeling is almost nostalgic. "Hrk... I have an immigration paper in the system," she starts.

The raikage raises an eyebrow.

"For Suna," she continues, wheezing.

"Yes?"

"Just today, I escorted Neji Hyuuga, Rock Lee, and Tenten of Konoha to my post in the east."

"On with it."

"They are personal friends of Naruto, and students of Might Guy."

The air in the office tenses at the mention of Guy's name.

"I, once, was trained as a pupil by Guy-sensei himself, and personally knew Naruto," Hikari sputters. "I left to come to the glorious Cloud Village—"

"Cut the shit. What do you want?" The Raikage asks bluntly.

"Please change my immigration to Konoha, effective immediately."

Hikari stands upright, looking her Kage straight in the eye.

He can see that familiar golden shimmer.

He gestures for the stack of immigration paperwork and files through it, before retrieving her file. Hikari watches with mounting glee as he quickly scratches through a few names, changes a few things around, and stamps it personally.

"It'll be good to have someone on the inside, someone personal to our hero," he says simply. "I've been looking for an opportunity like this, Kumoka-san, and you've turned up at my doorstep at just the right time."

"Thank you, Raikage-sama." Hikari gives a deep, long bow.

"You have one last assignment, though." He says, and Hikari stiffens, thinking of Lee back at her outpost, waiting for her.

He'd been waiting too long.

"Escort Guy's students back to Konoha. That's an order."

"Yes, Raikage-sama."

"You're dismissed."

\--

Hikari remembers Ichida-sensei's words as she pounds the ground, flying back towards the outpost under the light of the moon.

'Hikari, this isn't a decision you should make so lightly, or quickly... over a boy.'

Hikari's mouth splits into a grin, and she lets out a loud, hollering bout of laughter, feeling the wide expression sting and strain at the scar she got so, so long ago.

"FUCK YOU, ICHIDA-SENSEI!" She hollers, doing a backflip off the next branch, just for the hell of it. "MY WHOLE LIFE'S REVOLVED AROUND THIS BOY!"

She must have looked crazy. Anyone would have said she was moving way too fast.

As the sun begins peeking over the trees, shimmering through the dense evergreen needles, Hikari can see the outpost on the horizon.

Hikari would never say she was moving too fast.

She spent too much of her life moving too slow.

"Just wait a little more, Lee. I'm coming."


End file.
